Homesick
by SSACalliope-Prentiss
Summary: Emily has been running the Interpol office in London for three months. Everyone misses her and she misses them. Alex Blake, the newest member of the team, has an idea. There are slashes in the story and fights and break-ups! :D
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, SSACalliope-Prentiss here, **

**I hope you guys like the story, seriously...I do**

**If you do or have any ideas, let me know ;D**

* * *

Alex Blake is the newest member of the BAU. She never really felt like she fit in as she was filling another woman's shoes. A woman who every team member loved and adored.

"Alex," JJ greeted as Alex walked into her office. She had a small smile that didn't manage to reach her eyes. Emily was JJ's best friend and she never got over the fact that she had left.

"Hey JJ," Alex closed the door and returned her small smile "Got any cases today?"

"Nope," she replied with a sigh "Got anything in your life we can talk about?"

Alex laughed a little "Right, cause everyone in the BAU have great personal lives," she rolled her eyes realizing something "With the exception of _you_,"

JJ genuinely smiled at the comment but it faded "Will's been acting strange lately, I think he's cheating," she furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing whether to be angry or upset.

Alex's eyes widened a fraction "Are you okay?" concern clear on her face.

"Not really, everything is just falling apart," JJ said "I mean, Emily left, the whole team is depressed, even Strauss misses her, and to top it off, Will is a whore,"

"You wanna talk about her?" Alex asked.

JJ looked at her for a moment then took out her phone. She showed her a photo of herself, Emily, Ashley and Penelope. They were out at a bar for ladies night.

"She didn't even want to come, she loved coming out to girls night but it was just after a case, family anialations, brought back some bad memories for her," JJ explained "But we dragged her out anyway, to make her forget the bad memories and make some new ones,"

Alex knew something bad happened to Emily Prentiss but she didn't want to pry.

"She had forgotten all about the case, thanks to Pen, for bringing up Hotch, she rolled her eyes so many times I lost count," JJ laughed a little. Alex smiled at that "She was the most bad-ass, awesome, caring, loving person you'd ever meet," she flicked the photo across to Henry on Emily's back. They were running around and Henry was giggling like crazy "She was great with kids, they trusted her, she had that affect,"

Alex smiled and nodded "I heard she was a spy and adopted a kid after his family died," Alex started "I think _I_ wanna have sex with this woman,"

JJ laughed genuinely for the first time in a while "I'll admit, if I were gay, I'd go for her,"

This time they were both laughing when they heard a knock on the door, stopping them.

"Come in," JJ said, still smiling.

In came Hotch looking depressed as he had for the past three months Emily had been gone "It's time," he said.

"What? No," JJ shook her head "We're not ready,"

"JJ, I can't do this any longer," he said "I've tried all I can but I just can't"

JJ looked at him for a moment, "Wait a week, I'll see what I can do,"

Hotch nodded once before closing the door behind him and walking back to Strauss to buy them more time.

"May I ask?" Alex asked softly.

JJ sighed "Brass wants to fill Emily's position,"

"I thought I was that position," Alex was a little confused.

"You're not filling her position, you're a different area of expertise and we were going to hire you anyway, Emily leaving was just a coincidence," JJ explained.

"Okay," Alex nodded slowly "So, let's get your agent back then,"

* * *

Alex was thinking. Trying to figure out what to do. She saw the empty desk next to her, one that was once occupied by the one and only Emily Prentiss. No one was allowed to sit there, no one was allowed to touch it. If they leant on it, they would have to face the wrath of every single BAU member, even Hotch. Emily was special to them, nothing and no one could change that.

She was about to head home for the night when something sparked in her mind, She walked up to Hotch's office, knowing he'd still be there, and knocked on it three times. She entered after she head the usual 'come in'.

"Hotch," she greeted as he looked up from his file "I need a few personal days,"

"May I ask why?" he asked putting his pen down and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Sure, you can ask, but I doubt you'll get an answer," she replied with a shrug.

Hotch smiled "That's something Emily would say," his smile faded at the thought of losing her once again "Sure, you can have a few days, just...I don't want to know," he said shaking his head, making her smile.

* * *

JJ walked into her house and shut the door quietly, making sure not to disturb Henry. She chucked her coat and bag on the kitchen stool and sighed inaudibly.

"Hey JJ," Will greeted her quietly as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," she reply halfheartedly "When did you get home?"

He looked at the clock and saw it was 11:30 PM, "I had paperwork to do, so about three hours ago,"

JJ raised her eyebrows briefly and nodded, not wanting to deal with it tonight. She knew what was going on, she just didn't have the energy to fight it.

"JJ, are you alright?" Will asked.

"Just peachy," she dragged out the word 'just' and shook her head as she walked into the bedroom.

"Are you going to talk to me?" he asked following her.

She rolled her eyes and turned so she could face him "No, I'm not," she spat back bitterly "Because I don't have the patience or the energy to deal with your lies right now," Will looked shocked and hurt at the same time "I want my best friend back, I want to have a reason to go to work in the morning, I want to be able to see her smiling face every day, because it always cheered me up, I want to hear her jokes and remarks that made our day, because some cases get so bad we wonder why we do this job in the first place! I want Hotch back to his normal self, I want the team to come out of their cave, and I want to be able to smile again, to not be depressed every second of every day, and I want a husband who doesn't cheat on his wife!" her voiced was raised by the end of the rant and she stormed out the front door, grabbing her go-bag, purse and coat on the way.

* * *

**First chapter done, I know it's really short but I wanted to make it to the point and I didn't want to drag it out.**

**By the way, I don't own CM...sorry ;D**

**Review! Review! Review! PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it's been so long ):**

**My laptop broke so I haven't been able to update any of my stories D:**

**Anyways, here's second chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

JJ drove, she didn't know where she was going, but she had to go somewhere. The first place she could think of was the safest place she could think of. It probably wasn't a good idea, but she had nowhere else to go.

She knocked on the door hard as tears started to swell in her eyes, She didn't want to cry, and frankly she didn't have the energy to let them fall. The door was opened by a tired, exhausted in fact, sad, grumpy Dave and smiled halfheartedly and let her in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her softly.

"I had nowhere else to go," said JJ as her tears went away. Dave always made her feel safe, happy most of the time, she always felt like she belonged.

"Are you okay?" he asked, true concern growing on his features.

"Fine," JJ shrugged a little "I yelled at Will and stormed out, I would normally go to..." she let it hang there, Dave knew exactly who she was talking about.

"You want a drink?" he asked, knowing she's probably hurting right about now.

"Got a beer?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Dave smirked and grabbed two beers out of the fridge. He took the caps off and handed her one as they sat down on the couch.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him for a moment before starting "I'm just so tired, of everything, everyone," she shook her head "I don't get it, I don't get why she left, I don't get how she left, I just...I don't understand,"

"Emily's been running, protecting people her whole life, never done anything for herself," Dave started "I think she needed to do something for herself, get away from everything and everyone,"

"Do you think she misses us?" asked JJ after a moment of silence.

"I know she does," Dave replied without hesitation.

"I want her to come home," JJ curled up into his side as a single tear drop leaked from her eye and onto his shirt.

"Me too," he kissed her top of her head "Me too,"

* * *

Emily sat in her office at Interpol writing a report. It had been a crazy day.

She and her team had successfully apprehended another International arms dealer.

She was shot in the shoulder when the ringleader turned a gun on her. She had shot at the same time, but managed to hit his chest instead.

He died on the spot.

She looked at the photo frame on her desk and smiled. It was a photo of her team and everyone's families. They were out at a friends shack. A girl who's family had been killed and the only family she had left were the team. She was only sixteen and her world had crumbled. The team then became her family, her idols.

Emily remembers her like a daughter she never had. She stared at the photo and couldn't peel her eyes away. Why was she here? Why did she leave the ones she loves for this? For a higher ranking job? For herself? She never does anything for herself, why should this be any different? Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She finally lifted her head from the photograph and her eyebrows raised.

* * *

It had been two days since Alex figured out her plan. Two days planning, two days searching. Two days finding. Alex prayed that this would work, not only for the team, but for herself too.

She really wanted to meet this woman that made an impact on all their lives.

Suddenly she was nervous, what if this didn't work? What if she let everyone down?

She closed her eyes and breathed in the cold air as she walked along the sidewalk.

Her heart was racing and her blood was pumping. She could feel her pulse without touching it.

Her hands started to sweat and she stopped walking, realizing that she had never been like this ever.

But this was different, this meant everything to everyone in her team, and higher.

Strauss didn't want anyone else because Emily Prentiss was one of the best agents the bureau had ever seen. She originally was put in the BAU to bring down Hotch's career, but Emily was loyal and couldn't ruin another person's life. Instead of bringing her boss' career down, she sacrificed her own. To Alex, that was courageous, loyal and heroic, all at the same time.

Alex really wanted to meet her. She seemed like an amazing person who'd be worth getting to know.

She walked into the building with a deep breath and went to the sixth floor. Her heart started to beat faster and harder. She walked to the end of the hall where she came to an office.

She knocked on the door three times before the head looked up from the desk.

"Agent Prentiss?" she started "I'm SSA Alex Blake,"

* * *

"Agent Prentiss?" Alex said "I'm SSA Alex Blake,"

"I know," Emily smiled a little "And it's not 'Agent' anymore," she stood and gestured to the chair in front of her desk "What can I do for you Agent Blake?"

Alex sat down and looked her dead in the eye "Why'd you leave?"

"Excuse me?" Emily was a little taken aback by the question.

"Why did you leave the BAU?" she asked again.

Emily looked at her "I guess I needed a change, something happened over there and I couldn't pretend it didn't,"

"So you left them," Alex said, a little annoyed at how she could just walk out of these amazing people's lives.

"I had to," said Emily "There's nothing I wouldn't do for them, but I can't look at them all day every day and pretend that everything was back to normal, that everyone trusted one another, when in actual fact, everyone's trust had been shattered the day I returned,"

Alex studied her for a moment "Do you miss them?"

"Everyday," Emily replied without hesitation.

"Then why won't you come back?" Alex asked, almost pleadingly.

Emily looked at her again "Why do you care?"

"Do you have any idea what they're like to work with when you're not around? Because I do," Alex said "I've never seen them happy, ever. JJ needs her best friend right now, she is going through a crisis that you need to be there for, Reid is lost, he can't think, he almost started taking dilaudid again, lucky I got to him in time," Emily looked at her in alarm "Don't worry, Spencer and I have been friends for years, I knew about his addiction to begin with," Emily seemed to relax at that, so she continued.

"Dave doesn't come out of his office, ever, I've never seen him smile or crack a joke," Alex explained "Morgan needs you to stop him from punching a wall or killing an unsub, and Hotch," Alex scoffed "Hotch has a permanent mask on, his facial expression never changes unless your name is mentioned and he softens up a little, it's like day of the dead everyday there,"

Emily's eyes started to burn "So why are you here?"

"To convince you to come back," said Alex "And let's face it, you need them as much as they need you," Alex stood up "You seriously need to think about this," and with that she walked out of the office.

* * *

**Well? What do you think?**

**I hope you liked it, reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's third chapter :D**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

The next morning, Emily ran through the park 5 miles from her apartment, when her phone started ringing.

She stopped and answered without checking the ID "Prentiss,"

"Emily," said the voice. She immediately recognized it and smiled.

"Hey Hotch," she said "How are you?" she was panting.

"Yeah good, good, you?" he replied but she could tell he was lying.

"Horrible, actually," she replied "Have you been to London? It's freezing! It's like the fall but we're in Summer," she chuckled.

Hotch laughed a little at that "Well, it's warm here, like that case in Miami a few years back,"

Emily whistled "Way to make a girl jealous, Hotch," she heard him laugh again "You need to do that more often,"

"Do what?" he asked "Make you jealous?"

"Laugh," she said "I hear you have a mask on, no emotion goes in or out,"

"Tough cases," he covered with a sigh "How's Easter?"

"I don't know," Emily shrugged "He's in another country,"

"Oh," she heard him reply.

"How's my favorite kid?" she asked leaning against a tree.

"Hey!" she heard a younger voice cry "I thought I was your favorite kid!"

She laughed at that "Hey Dec," she said "How you doing?"

"I got onto the Varsity Le Cross team at school," said Declan.

"That's great!" she smiled "What are you even doing out of bed? It's like a quarter to twelve at night over there,"

"We figured you'd be up so we decided to call," Declan said "I am sixteen you know,"

"Oh, I'm very aware," Emily replied "So how's the little man?"

"He misses you," Hotch said "He sleeps with that pillow-pet every night,"

"Is he having nightmares?" asked Emily softly.

"Yeah," Hotch replied, barely a whisper.

Emily closed her eyes "Well, maybe you can get him to call tomorrow before he goes to bed, maybe that will help,"

"It would be too late to call you," Hotch said.

"Hotch, I really don't mind," Emily said.

"Alright, we'll call you tomorrow," Hotch replied "I should probably get some sleep, I have a meeting with Strauss tomorrow morning,"

"Good luck with that one," she replied sarcastically, hearing him laugh, she smiled "Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow, bye,"

"Bye," she heard him say and they hung up. She closed her eyes and thudded her head against the tree.

She gathered herself together and started to run again, she needed to think.

* * *

"You miss her," Declan said to Hotch as they hung up.

"Of course I do," he replied "She was one of my best agents,"

Declan gave him a look "You know what I mean,"

"Not like that," Hotch tried to deny "She's not like that,"

"What do you mean?" asked Declan.

"Emily Prentiss does not go for guys like Aaron Hotchner," he said as Declan walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Newsflash, yes she does," said Declan "You seriously have no idea do you?"

Hotch looked at him quizzically "And you call yourself a profiler?" he smirked and walked down the hall to his bedroom "Night, Hotch!" he called over his shoulder before closing his bedroom door.

"Yeah, night," he muttered a few seconds later, trying to figure out what he meant before wandering to his own room.

* * *

JJ woke up to the smell of cooking bacon. She was a little confused at first, but then remember where she was.

Dave's.

She looked around and saw she wasn't in his bedroom and sighed in relief. He must have carried her into a guest bedroom when she fell asleep.

She got up and walked into the kitchen where she spotted Dave in his flanny pajama pants and plain t-shirt, cooking breakfast. She smiled at the sight before he saw her.

"Morning," he said not turning around "Sleep well?"

"Actually," she said as she started to walk towards the bench "I did, first time in three months,"

Dave gave her a small smile "Me too," he said serving up the food "I haven't been able to eat either, the thought made me sick,"

"Because you used to cook with her?" JJ asked as she took a seat.

Dave nodded "Yeah,"

JJ nodded in understanding "You okay?"

"Yeah," he gave her a reassuring smile "Just miss her, that's all,"

JJ started to eat the food on her plate "Wow, this is good,"

"I know right?" Dave smirked then it faded "Emily tought me this recipe,"

"I thought these tasted familiar," JJ replied "Whenever we had ladies night and crash at her place, she always cooked in the morning, no matter how hung over she was,"

Dave chuckled at that "That's Em for you,"

JJ nodded in agreement as they finished eating their breakfast.

* * *

**It's a little short, but meh :)**

**R&R :D  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the fourth chapter :)**

**Please enjoy **

** -Prentiss**

* * *

Alex walked into her office for the second time, hoping for the answer she wanted. Praying that she would be leaving with the best news anyone of the team had heard in a long time.

She knocked twice before walking in and sitting down without saying a word.

"Morning, Agent Blake," Emily said not looking up from her files "You've come for my decision,"

"I already know your answer," Alex said.

"No you don't," Emily replied with a slight smirk on her face, but still not looking up "Because I don't have an answer for you,"

"You already know the answer," Alex replied. Emily could almost hear the smirk on her face.

Emily finally looked up to meet her eyes "You replaced me, why do you want me to come back?"

Alex sighed "Because, I love this team, for the past three months I have finally felt like I've been making a difference, I have a reason to get up in the morning," she paused for a moment "But they don't anymore, they hate their jobs because when they walk into that office every morning, they know you won't be there, they know they won't wee your smiling face who lights up the room and makes everyone feel a little better when they need it," Alex paused again briefly "I can't just sit back and let their worlds crumble apart, I'm guessing Garcia was unusual, and proud of it three months ago, now she hardly comes out of her office, she never goes out and apparently doesn't flirt with Morgan anymore,"

Emily raised her eyebrows at that "She what?"

"You heard me," Alex said "You know your answer Emily, all you need to do is come to your senses sooner than later,"

"I can't leave," she replied "I just can't, I know how hard it is on them, because it hurts me too, but I can't just walk away from something that I feel like I'm needed,"

"That's what you think? That you weren't needed in Quantico?" Alex scoffed and shook his head "JJ told me all about you, about how you always brought Hotch lunch because he forgot to eat, you'd make sure he'd call his son or get home in time before he went to bed, you always made Morgan feel like he could trust someone, believe that there was greater good in the world than serial killers and unsubs," she continued "she said that you were there every step of the way for her and Will and Henry, that you did whatever you could, whenever you could, even if she came running to you in the middle of the night because she needed a shoulder to cry on, you were Spencer's rock, you kept him stable, and you were there for Dave," Alex sighed again "Dave needed you the most when Carolyn died, he needed you for support, he needed you to be strong because he couldn't, and you were Garcia's 'Gumdrop', the one that kept her sane, the one that kept her from feeling like there was a black hole and she was being sucked in by all the horrible things she has to face on a daily basis,"

Emily looked at the photo again "There will always be a black hole," she whispered.

"Don't you see, Emily? These are extraordinary people, but they can't stay extraordinary without you," Alex tilted her head and quietened down a little "Without you, they're all sucked into that black hole until you shine and pull them out,"

"I shouldn't have left," Alex started to feel a little more relaxed at that "But I can't go back,"

Alex's heart sank at that. She watched Emily for a few more seconds then stood up and stopped at the door before turning around and saying "I think you're making a mistake,"

"Probably, but you don't know what's really a mistake until you've made it," Emily replied and with that Alex left for the airport, disappointed in herself for not being able to bring that woman home to where she belonged.

* * *

That night, Emily tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep, and she kept staring at her phone. She was about to doze off when it rang.

She sighed and answered "Prentiss,"

She heard crying on the other end "Emily?" and sat up, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Penelope," she whispered "Is everything alright? Are you okay?"

Penelope sobbed "No," she cried "Everything's not okay, Em!" she practically yelled into the phone "You're supposed to be here, you're supposed to be keeping us all safe!"

"Pen, is anyone hurt?" Emily sat up further.

"Yes! I am!" she replied, still sobbing "You're supposed to be here, you left us! You left me! I keep having nightmares that we're all dead because you weren't here to save us! You're supposed to keep us safe, and you can't do that Em, if you're around the world!"

Penelope broke out into uncontrollable crying "Pen," Emily's voice broke a little "I'm sorry," was all she could say "But you're fine without me,"

"Fine?!" Penelope yelled "You think we're fine? We are not fine Emily Prentiss! No way! Nothing is the same without you! It will never be the same! Everyone hates it here and by leaving you ruined the BAU for us!"

Emily's eyes swelled up "Garcia, I will always be here for you, but I can't be there,"

"Why not?" it was a plead.

"Because nothing was the same when I was there? Nothing was normal when I came back, everything was ruined because of me, I can't pretend nothing happened, no one can pretend, so I had to leave, for myself this time," Emily explained.

This made Garcia start crying again "I'm sorry," she sobbed "I'm being selfish, I'm screaming at you for doing something for yourself for the first time in, like, ever!"

"Pen, it's okay," a tear rolled down her cheek "I understand why you're upset, because I miss you too, and I want to see your smiling face everyday, but I can't come back,"

Penelope sniffled "I know, I'm just being selfish," she apologized "I'm sorry, Gumdrop,"

Hearing that name made her eyes burn "You know I love you, right?" she said trying not to break down.

"I know," Penelope answered "And I love you too, we all do,"

Emily smiled a little "Tell them the same for me?" she asked.

"Of course," Penelope said "I'll let you get back to sleep now,"

"Okay, bye Pen," Emily said quietly and hung up.

When she did, she let the tears flow down her face. Then curled up in a ball and went to sleep.

* * *

Alex returned to the BAU bullpen a few days later, looking less lively. She was angry, pissed and frustrated all at the same time. Not only has she failed herself, but she failed the team and that was something she never wanted to do, ever.

"You okay?" Spence asked her as he saw the look on her face.

She gave him awake reassuring smile and replied "Yeah, fine, thanks,"

"Guys, we need you in the conference room," said a tired and exhausted Hotch as he walked out of his office and across the boardwalk.

They sighed a little and followed him into the conference room and sat down at the round-table.

Once they were all seated, Hotch started "We've been putting this off for a long time in hopes that she would return, but now we have to make a decision,"

"No way, man," Morgan shook his head "I'm not choosing Emily's replacement,"

"It's an order from Strauss," JJ explained, her voice breaking "She doesn't want to choose a new member, she wants Emily back,"

Hearing that, Alex's heart broke for what felt like the millionth time that week "So she's putting it on us?"

Hotch just nodded at that and placed a big pile of personnel files in the center of the table "Let's get started,"

* * *

After what felt like hours of searching though personnel files, Hotch looked up around at his team "Anyone?"

"Nope," Morgan said without hesitation, throwing the file he was holding onto the table, he wasn't taking part in his partner's replacement.

"Morgan, I know this is hard, but you don't want the next team member to be someone who none of us can work with," Hotch explained "If you want to be able to work with the next person, you need to make an effort,"

Morgan just looked at him "Thank you for that insight,"

Hotch knew they were all on edge and let it slide. He knew Morgan was going to be the worst of them.

"Anyone else?" Hotch asked.

Everyone shook their heads until they heard "I know someone,"

* * *

**Well?**

**R&R! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's 5th chapter, hope you like it**

**:D:D:D:D**

* * *

They all sat and gaped at the voice's source. They hadn't expected this.

There stood Emily Prentiss in the doorway with a smirk on her face.

"Emily," Garcia breathed.

"I heard that you needed to find a replacement before the end of the week," Emily said "I'd like to apply,"

Alex smiled to herself and stood "You must be Agent Prentiss," she walked forward and stuck out her hand "Alex Blake,"

Emily smiled at her and took her hand "Nice to meet you,"

"Likewise," Alex said "I've heard a lot about you,"

"It's not true," Emily covered with a smile making them all chuckle.

Garca ran up and tackled her into a hug "Pen," she tried to say "Can't. Breathe,"

Garcia let go "Sorry," then looked at her "And sorry for what I said the other day, I just wanted you to come home,"

"I know," Emily gave her a reassuring smile and rubbed her arm "But, I'm here now and I'll come back if you'll have me,"

"Are you kidding me?" Hotch said "You know how long I've put this off for?"

"Three months," Emily replied sarcastically.

Hotch smiled at her, in which she returned "It's good to see you,"

"Yeah, you too," she smiled and looked at the team "You guys look like hell,"

"We missed you too, Princess," Morgan said enveloping her in a hug.

Alex watched as the scene unfolded. She knew then and there that things were going to look up from then on.

"By the way," Morgan said "You guys are terrible liars,"

Alex and Emily started laughing "Why I'm shocked and appalled Agent Morgan," Emily replied sarcastically.

"So," Hotch said to Alex "This was you personal leave?"

Alex just nodded and looked back at the team.

When JJ went to hug Emily, she wouldn't let go "I've missed you so much, Em," she whispered in her ear.

To which she replied "I know, and I'm sorry, for everything,"

Now it was Dave's turn "Welcome home, kid," he said and kissed her on the cheek before hugging her.

"Thanks Dave," she replied.

Reid stayed in his chair and kept fiddling his thumbs.

Emily sat down next to him "Hey," she said "You okay?"

He sat there in silence, not wanting to answer. She hadn't spoken to him since she left. She tried calling, emailing, texting, but nothing worked. He wouldn't talk to her.

"I haven't heard from you in three months," Emily said "I'm not even worth a 'hello'?"

Still, nothing.

"Well, when you're ready, I'll be here," Emily said and stood up, and started to walk out to Strauss' office, followed by the team, except Reid.

"You left me," he said just as she was about to leave, stopping her in her tracks "You just walked out,"

She turned and stood in the doorway, listening to him talk "You just left me here, without an explanation,"

"Three months an you came back, but you had only been back for 5," Reid said "Before that, you were gone for seven, how do you think that makes me feel when you just walk in and out?"

The rest of the team left and shut he door when Emily went and sat down next to him "I know that you must be upset, hurt and I know what this means to you," Emily said "And I'm sorry for what I've put you through, I'm sorry for what this has done to us, to you," she shook her head "But what's done is done and i can't change that, I'm here now, but if you don't want me to stay, I won't,"

Reid looked at her in disbelief "You think I don't want you here?"

Emily scoffed "I'm not sure anymore,"

"Emily, the only reason I'm mad is because you kept feeling the need to leave, not for coming back," Reid said "I can't change what Doyle did to you, no one can, but we're your family, you belong here,"

Emily gave him a warm smile and pulled him into a hug "I've missed you, Spencer,"

"You have no idea," Reid replied.

* * *

Emily stepped into Strauss' office with no emotion what-so-ever, ready to give the 'screw you' attitude until she was enveloped in a hug by the Almighty Erin Strauss "Ma'am?"

Strauss looked at her and smiled a little "I'm glad you're back, really, you have no idea what your team is like without you, they're moody, grumpy, depressed, which makes me depressed and now I see a rare smile on Aaron Hotchner's face," she explained "What power you have over them,"

Emily chuckled a little "I don't have any power over them, just their emotions," she smirked, to which Strauss returned.

"Well, if you're up for it," Strauss started as she took a seat at her desk "You will be reinforced on the team, effective immediately,"

Emily smiled, but then faded a little "You'll have to talk to the team first, Ma'am,"

Erin smiled at her "I have, they agree, so make sure you turn up for work tomorrow and," she reached into her top drawer and pulled out Emily's badge and gun "Welcome back, Agent Prentiss,"

Emily grabbed her badge and ran her thumb over the cool metal of the shield on the leather wallet "Thank you, Ma'am," and with that, she grabbed her service weapon and walked out, closing the door behind her.

She walked along the boardwalk with a slight smirk on her face and down into the bullpen, where she sat down at her desk, formerly former-desk.

"What did she have to say?" Derek asked her.

"I start tomorrow," Emily replied.

"And?" Derek pried "That's it?"

"Oh, I think our dear old Ice Queen isn't so icy after all," Emily replied.

Derek leaned forward, intrigued "I'm listening,"

Emily didn't reply, just smirked at him and opened the top of her desk drawer where she put her badge and gun in.

"Oh, come on, you can't just drop a bomb like that and run!" Derek protested.

Emily chuckled at him and stood up walking up to Hotch's office.

"Not cool Emily Prentiss! Not cool!" he called after her just as she opened the door to her boss' office with a sly smile on her face.

* * *

"Not cool Emily Prentiss! Not cool!" Hotch heard Derek call out as Emily opened his office door without knocking.

"Come right in," he said sarcastically, pausing her in her tracks "What?"

"Was that sarcasm?" she asked and sat down on his couch "Did I hear the great Aaron Hotchner make a sarcastic quip?"

"Yes," Hotch replied and nodded once.

"Wow, what has gotten into you?" she crossed one leg over her other and rested her chin on her elbow.

"You're back," he said with a small smile.

"Yes I am," Emily nodded once slowly "And?"

"That's it,"

"That's it?" she raised an eyebrow at him "Anyway, you know I start tomorrow?"

"I do," he said "I'm a ninja, I know everything,"

Emily couldn't help but laugh at him "A ninja?" he couldn't help but smile at her laugh "What are you, seven?"

"No, Jack is, and he's got a new obsession, can you guess?" he replied sarcastically.

"Ninjas?" she smiled "Have you got him a ninja outfit yet?"

"Who says I will?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh you will," Emily stood up off the couch "Trust me,"

Hotch looked at her "It's good to have you back,"

Emily tilted her head and smiled a little "Yeah, it's good to be back," and with that, she walked out of his office and back down into the bullpen Where Morgan started pestering her about Strauss again "I'll see you tomorrow Derek," she said and said goodbye to the rest of them.

* * *

**I hope you liked it :)**

**R&R :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, sorry this took so long**

**I haven't really been in the mood to write and been working on something else**

**Anyway, this is chapter six, enjoy :D**

* * *

Hotch walked into his apartment, feeling exhausted but happy. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face no matter how hard he tried.

Declan had just put Jack to bed when he walked into the living room "Hey Hotch," Declan greeted him.

"Good evening Declan," Hotch said as he threw the keys onto the counter and shrugged off his suit jacket.

Declan looked at him skeptically "What's with you?"

"What?" Hotch asked a little confused by the question.

Declan was still looking at him, squinting "You're happy, why are you happy?"

Hotch chuckled at him "Do I need a reason to seem happy?"

"Yes," Declan answered without a doubt "Come on, spill,"

"Well, I saw someone today, she's special, always been special to me," Hotch explained.

"That's it?" Declan asked with a raised eyebrow making Hotch laugh again "What?"

"You take after your mother," Hotch said then stopped smiling when he saw his face "You okay?"

"I miss her, you know?" Declan replied "I just want her to come home,"

Like some mind reader, there was a knock on the front door.

Declan groaned "I'll get it,"

Hotch sat back on the couch "Thanks buddy,"

Declan walked to the front door and looked through the peephole. He smiled and couldn't get the door open fast enough "Mom!"

"Hey buddy," Emily replied with the biggest smile on her face.

Declan crash-tackled her into a hug "I've missed you so much," he whispered.

"Me too," she replied and they pulled away.

"Come in, Em!" Hotch called from the couch.

They walked inside to find Hotch lying on the couch with the fold of his elbow over his eyes and his shoes kicked off, at which Emily couldn't help but laugh at.

"Comfortable?" she asked sarcastically.

Hotch sighed over-exaggeratedly "Like you wouldn't believe,"

"Jack in bed?" Emily asked flicking her eyes in the direction of the young boy's room.

"Yeah," said Declan "About, five-ten minutes ago,"

Emily nodded and headed for the direction of Jack's bedroom. She quietly opened the door and lent against the door frame.

She looked around the room and saw posters and toys of Japanese ninjas, and the Power Rangers "See? Ninjas," Hotch had come up behind her.

She smiled and looked at him "I'm surprised there's no massive pictures of you on his walls," she joked.

Hotch chuckled a little "That was last year's phase, thinking I was a superhero,"

Emily looked back at the sleeping boy and rested her head on the door frame "You are,"

Hotch looked down at her and smiled, even though she couldn't see it.

They watched as the little boy stirred and slowly woke up to see two figures in the doorway "Emmy?"

"Hey buddy," Emily pushed herself off the door frame and walked further into his room to sit on the edge of his bed "How you doin'?"

"I missed you," he replied and put his arms in the air to give her a hug. She bent down and held him tightly.

"I missed you too," Emily replied, her heart breaking.

"I've been having nightmares Emmy," Jack said.

Emily nodded and pushed the hair out of his face "I know, you're dad told me,"

"They were about you again," he said "That you were gone forever, where Mommy went,"

Her eyes started to burn "Honey, I'm not going anywhere ever again," she said "Promise,"

"Pinky promise?" he stuck his pinky in the air making her smile.

"Pinky promise," she linked her finger with his and kissed him on the forehead "Night buddy,"

"G'night Emmy," he yawned and Emily got off the bed and closed his door quietly on the way out.

"He loves you, you know?" Hotch said quietly when she rested her forehead against the door and closed her eyes.

She put her palm on the door next to her face "I know," then turned to him "I love him too,"

"He knows that," Hotch assured her.

She looked at him skeptically "How?"

"I told him every night before he went to bed," Hotch informed her proudly.

She smiled at him and shook her head then looked in his eyes "Thank you,"

He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder to spin her around and walking out towards the living room.

* * *

The next day when Emily walked into the bullpen, she paused at her desk and stared at it.

"Princess?" Derek asked "You okay?"

Emily looked at him the back at her desk and shrugged a little "Yeah, fine, it just feels weird, good weird, but weird,"

Derek laughed a bit "Welcome back Emily,"

Emily smiled and sat down "Thanks,"

She ran her fingers over the burn on the edge of her desk, having a flashback to the day it happened.

_3 YEARS EARLIER_

_"Morning Princess," Derek said as Emily slumped in her chair "Big night?" he chuckled._

_Emily put her head down in the fold of her elbow "Don't ask,"_

_JJ walked in and laughed at her best friend "What's with you?"_

_"Don't ask," Derek said grinning._

_"Okay," JJ smirked "Anyway, I just got a call from Brass, we are officially out of their sights for reassignments,"_

_Emily popped her head up "For real?"_

_JJ smiled and nodded "We're safe,"_

_Emily and Derek sighed a sigh of relief and leaned back in their chairs._

_"I need coffee," Emily groaned and stood up and walked to the coffee pot, too tired to notice anything around her._

_She took a sip of her hot beverage and walked back to her desk, pausing when she noticed a cupcake with a single lit candle in it._

_"What's this?" Emily asked cautiously._

_By this time, the whole team was at her desk "You really expect us to believe we wouldn't remember what day it was today?" Dave asked with a raised eyebrow._

_"Yeah, who do you think you're talking to?" Garcia asked._

_Emily was confused when she saw the rolling of the eyes around the desk._

_"She forgot," Hotch said to the rest of the team "Seriously Emily, how did you forget?"_

_She was about to ask when the candle fell and caught fire of a piece of paper on her desk, burning the wood of her desk._

_She put it out with her hand and threw the piece of paper in the bin._

_"Tell me you did not just do that," Derek said._

_Emily looked at him "Do what?"_

_"You put a flame out with your hand," Derek said and grabbed her wrist to look at the palm of her hand "You burnt yourself, congratulations,"_

_"Why was there a candle on my desk in the first place?" Emily asked taking her hand back._

_More eye rolls went around the room._

_"Happy birthday Em," JJ laughed "Seriously, you'd think she'd forget her head if it wasn't attached to her body," _

_The team chuckled as Emily suddenly realized "Oh,"_

PRESENT DAY

"Em," Derek said "You in there?"

Emily smiled at the memory, then at Derek "Yeah, just thinking,"

In that moment Alex walked in and sat at her desk next to Emily's "Morning,"

"Hey," Derek and Emily replied in unison with matching smiles.

"Yo, Princess," Derek said "Have you seen PG?"

Emily looked around for a second until her eyes set on a ball of color heading toward them at warp speed.

"Yep," Emily said "And 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

"Gumdrop!" Garcia exclaimed "How does it feel?"

"Good," Emily smiled at her.

Garcia suddenly had an idea and gasped over exaggeratedly "You know what we should do?"

"Oh god," Emily muttered making Alex and Derek smirk.

"We should totally have a ladies night! We haven't had one in so long!" Garcia jumped up and down and clapped her hands "Please please please?" she begged.

Emily rolled her eyes "Fine,"

Garcia squealed "Oh my gosh, this is going to be so much fun!" Emily cringed at her excitement "It'll just be the four of us! I can't wait! We have to tell JJ!" and with that she rushed off to find JJ.

Derek laughed at the two women's faces "Good luck,"

Emily groaned and looked at Alex "Meet Penelope Garcia, the real Penelope Garcia,"

"She's always like this?" asked Alex with a raised eyebrow.

Derek laughed "You have no idea,"

In that moment, JJ came out in a rush "Guys, we have a case,"

"Ready?" Derek asked Emily.

She looked at him and nodded "Always,"

* * *

**So there's chapter six :)**

**I sincerely hope you liked it **

**I don't know whether to do the case mentioned or just leave it there  
**

**You decide ;D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know there are a few of you following this story and waiting for the next chapter to come, and I'm sorry for keeping you on edge, but here's the next chapter :)**

**enjoy**

* * *

It was three days long. Three days in Vegas, three days of Emily's hell.

"I said it last time and I will say it again," Emily said as she sat down slowly next to JJ and across from Alex and Morgan "I hate Vegas,"

Morgan and JJ chuckled at the memory of the last Vegas morning "She was hung over, and we were in a casino,"

"A hung over Agent Prentiss was one to see," Morgan said with a smirk and a wink at Emily who just groaned.

"At least Garcia got her girls night," said Emily. Penelope had to go with them as they needed her close, making it very inconvenient for one Emily Prentiss.

_LAST NIGHT_

_"No, Garcia," Emily said as she saw Penelope come up to herself and Alex with a hopeful look on her face "No girls night in Vegas,"_

_"Oh, come on!" Penelope pouted "When was the last time we got an opportunity like this?"_

_Emily scoffed "Three years ago, the last time we were in this hell-hole,"_

_"No, that was team night," Penelope said._

_Alex raised an eyebrow "Team night?"_

_"We all had dinner together whilst Reid visited his mother," Emily explained to her "Which, if you haven't noticed, is very rare,"_

_Alex smirked "Yeah, I gathered something like that,"_

_"Please?" Penelope put on her best puppy dog eyes._

_Alex, not used to deflecting the eyes, shrugged and faced Emily "You're supposed to ignore the puppy dog eyes, Alex," Emily whispered to her._

_Alex stifled a laugh and Garcia went a step further "With all the shit you've put us through in the last year and a half, you owe me this,"_

_"Really?" Emily asked "The guilt trip? That's low, Pen,"_

_"I want my girls night," Penelope folded her arms across her chest._

_Emily glared at her "Fine, but if you get a hangover tomorrow, I will hand you vodka instead of water," and walked off._

_Alex burst out laughing at that "Ouch," she chuckled._

_Penelope chuckled sinically to herself and smiled at Alex "It'll be fun,"_

PRESENT DAY

"She went there?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emily nodded "Oh, she went there,"

Derek let out a low whistle "That's harsh,"

Emily leaned across JJ and closed the blinds of the jet windows and leant across the table to close Alex and Derek's. She groaned again "This is why you ignore the puppy dog eyes," Emily said "She has nothing on you yet so, once you get the eyes thing down pat, you're good," she made the perfection sign with her fingers and her eyes were closed.

JJ and Derek nodded towards Alex who just chuckled.

Penelope was passed out on her stomach, on the couch across from them and Hotch came up to put a blanket on her that he found in one of the small cupboards. He sat on the arm of the couch, at her feet, and smiled at Emily who had fallen asleep in record time to closing her eyes.

He shook his head "What did they drink last night?" he asked the two conscious women.

"We don't know," JJ said and shrugged "The bartender made it up,"

Alex smirked "I'm pretty sure they're about 80 percent vodka, 10 percent orange juice and just sugar,"

Derek and Hotch screwed their faces up at the drink which was mostly vodka and a drop of juice.

"That's nasty," said Derek.

Suddenly Emily bolted upright and was panting slightly, yelling "Ian!" sparking everyone's attention.

"Em?" JJ asked and laid a hand on her forearm, furrowing her eyebrows.

Hotch leant forward a little "How long have you been having nightmares, Emily?" he asked softly.

Emily shook herself "It wasn't a nightmare Hotch," she said "It was an alert awakening,"

"A.K.A, a nightmare," Garcia grumbled and then turned her back to them so she was on her side, facing the back of the couch and fell back asleep. Emily had startled her slightly.

They left her after that and Emily reluctantly closed her eyes and went back to sleep for the whole ride back to Virginia.

* * *

When they got off the plane, Hotch was the last one offf the plane, though Emily was lagging behind the rest of the group. He came up behind her as they were walking to the huge SUVs.

"Are you okay?" he asked seriously.

"Got some asprin?" she joked and put her sunglasses on.

He gave her a look "I'm serious Em, what was that back there?"

Emily stopped walking and turned to face him, causing hiim to stop as well "Look, Hotch, I'm fine, we just need to drop it,"

"You can't do that with me," said Hotch "I need to know what's going on with you, not only as one of my top agents, but as my best friend," he said softly "Come on, Em, what's going on?"

Emily sighed, hearing him call her his best friend made a few bricks of her walls knock down to the ground "They haven't stopped,"

"Since you got back from Paris?" he asked her with raised eyebrows and wide eyes "Emily!"

"Why the hell do you think I moved away?" Emily defended as Hotch scrubbed a hand over his face "I thought that if I got away from this, that they would stop, but they've just been getting worse, so I came back to where I want to be," she said "Do you really think that I wanted to be half way across the world? Away from the people I love? Away from my family? This is where I want to be, this is where I belong, nothing else matters, Hotch,"

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Hotch softly, he even looked hurt.

She put a hand on his forearm "Don't worry about it, okay?"

"I just don't understand why you don't tell me these things, we tell each other everything," said Hotch "You made me open up to you and then I don't know half as much in return,"

Emily sighed inaudibly "What do you want to know?!" she asked, confused at this behaviour "I don't understand what you want to know! So tell me Hotch, what do you want to know?"

Hotch looked at her "I don't know anymore," he shook his head and walked towards the cars where the team was waiting.

Emily threw her hands up in defeat and followed him, getting in the opposite bureau car with Alex, JJ and Spence.

"What was that?" JJ peered back at her through the rear-view mirror.

Emily was staring out the window with her chin in her hand, her fingers curling over her mouth "Nothin'," she replied.

Alex was about to say something to Emily when JJ caught her eye and stopped her by shaking her head. Alex furrowed her eyebrows but shrugged it off and the looked forward.

"So, how's Henry?" asked Alex changing the subject.

"Good," said JJ smiling at her "He skyped me last night, before we went out, chocolate all over his face,"

Alex laughed "No," she said.

JJ nodded "Yeah," she chuckled "What fun Will would've had,"

"He would've been bouncing off the walls," said Alex.

"Actually," Spence started "Bouncing off of a wall would take a lot of momentum just to launch-"

"Reid," Emily said quietly, making him shut it and look over at her. Alex looked back and JJ glanced through the mirror "It's a figure of speech," she hadn't taken her eyes off the sight out of the window.

"Sorry," Spence said and looked back down at the book he was reading. Suddenly he said in Russian "My headaches have stopped,"

Emily looked away from the window and furrowed her eyebrows, also speaking in Russian "You still get headaches?"

"Not since you returned," he said, though didn't look up from his book.

Alex and JJ listened to their Russian coversation and raised an eyebrow to each other.

"I love you," Emily said, still in Russian "You know that, right?"

"I know," he smiled and fianlly looked up at her "I love you too,"

She leaned over the backseat and kissed just above his temple "What're you reading?" she asked in English.

"Oh! It's this great book about an archeologist found a human head in a lion's stomach contents, which is strange because lions..." he started to ramble and Emily couldn't help but smile.

JJ rolled her eyes and Alex stifled a laugh as Emily acted interested in his book and the facts about lions and human heads.

* * *

Emily walked into her apartment, everything was the same. She knew Penelope had Sergio and hated to leave him behind. Everything was exactly how she left it, tidy. There was nothing in the cupboards or fridge so she decided on take out. She felt like pizza but wanted Chinese. She was so confused, what did Hotch mean? He said that he didn't know anymore, didn't know what?

She shook it off and picked up her cell, ordering the Chinese food. After she hung up with what sounded like a horny fifteen year old, she went upstairs to get changed. She put on some black Adidas track pants with the classic three white stripes down the side and deep pockets. She had a fitted white thick-strapped tank and she put her hair up in a messy bun.

She walked down the hall and saw a photo on the wall. It was of her and Declan. Declan had moved into Hotch's place when she moved to London,she wasn't proud of it, but she didn't want to pull him from his life either. He had cut his hair short so it was in a Widow Peak. His blonde hair brought out his bright cyan blue eyes and white teeth. The complete opposite to herself, with her raven hair and her dark brown  
orbs, she looked more like Jack than she did Declan. She chuckled at the irony and touched the glass covering his face.

A knock at the door brought her from her trance and she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked through the peephole and then opened the door.

"Hey," JJ was standing there with a small smile "I brought wine,"

"You're a godsend," Emily smiled and they kissed cheeks before hugging and Emily stepped to the side to let her in "I haven't had time to go shopping, it's been kind of hectic,"

"I figured you needed to talk," JJ said as she put the wine down on the bench.

Emily scoffed "Right," she reached into one of the top cupboards and pulled out two wine glasses.

"Okay, fine," JJ said "I need to talk, but you do too," Emily was about to retort when JJ held a finger up "Seriously Em, this is huge, I have never seen you and Hotch like this before and there is more behind the  
reason to moving to London, and you know it,"

Emily groaned "Seriously?" she poured the wine into the two glasses "I've been back for four days, not even, and you're drilling me already,"

"That's what best friends are for," said JJ with a wink.

Emily handed her the glass of wine with a smirk "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

JJ just took the glass and smiled "So, what's goin' on with you and Hotch?" and they sat down on the couch, JJ cross legged and Emily with her legs in JJ's lap.

"I don't know," Emily said "I just...I think I've screwed everything up," she said and JJ tilted her head to the side, listening "I knew that everything wouldn't just go back to normal, I know that, and it was this first case, but when we got back, it's just not the same anymore,"

"What exactly did he say?" JJ asked and then took a sip of her wine.

"That he doesn't know anymore," Emily said.

"Have you ever thought that he cares about you?" JJ suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Emily looked at her strangely "Of course he does, we're friends, but you're not storming off telling me that you don't know anymore,"

"And I don't want to sleep with you," JJ said, Emily almos choked on her wine "Oh come on Emily, he cares about you more than you think and I know you do too, the question is, when are you going to pull your head out of your ass to realise it?"

"Hotch doesn't-"

"Okay, sometimes I don't even recognise you," JJ groaned "You're so stubborn that you refuse to believe that he has been here the whole time, and then you walked away without giving an explanation, and frankly, he deserves more, you both do,"

"JJ," Emily started "We work together, it wouldn't work,"

JJ shrugged "Don't let Strauss know for a few months and don't let it affect your work, she'll be fine with it,"

Emiy laughed "Right, because she's such a laid back person," she said sarcastically.

JJ smirked and shook her head when her phone rang "No," Emily groaned.

"No, it's just Will," JJ said, picking up her phone and rejecting it.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked softly as she saw JJ put her phone back down again.

JJ sighed and shook her head "I know the signs, but ever since becoming a profiler, it's like I can't get by anything without it nagging me,"

"You think he's cheating..." Emily said, more of a statement than a question.

JJ nodded and looked down at her wine then back up to Emily "I can't stop,"

"Stop what?" Emily asked quietly.

"Thinking, profiling, the gears in my head turning," said JJ "It's driving me insane,"

"Do you trust him?" asked Emily.

JJ thought for a moment "I thought I did, but..." she let the end of the sentence hang, because Emily knew what it was.

"You need trust," said Emily "Otherwise he won't catch you when you fall,"

"Do you trust Hotch?" JJ asked her.

Emily nodded "I do,"


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's next chapter, hope you like it :D**

* * *

"No," Emily said to Strauss "I won't do it,"

Strauss looked at her "I know this is hard for you but everyone deserves the truth of what really happened and the cadets need inspiration,"

"Inspiration?" Emily asked in surprise "You think that's inspiration?"

"Yes, they need to learn the difference between right and wrong Emily, and you're the one to do that,"

"Oh," Emily said "That's right, we're trying to make me an example of what's wrong in the bureau, that's right I forgot," she sarcastically.

"That's not what I said," Strauss said firmly "You see things in shades of grey, which is what they need, they think that everything's in black and white but you don't,"

"And Doyle's the right way to do it?" Emily asked and shook her head.

Strauss just looked at her then finally said "Emily, this comes from higher than me,"

Emily looked at her then laughed "Unbelievable," she muttered.

"You think I like the idea of this?" Strauss asked her "You're one of the best agents I have ever seen, the best of the best, and believe it or not I am proud to be your Section Chief, I don't want you to re-live this over and over again, is that what you think I want you to do?"

Emily just scoffed and shook her head in disbelief at what she had to do "This sucks," she said and slumped into the chair.

"You okay?" Strauss asked her.

Emily looked at her then just sighed, scrubbing a hand over her face "How am I supposed to explain that I fell in love with a serial killer sociopath?"

"Leave that part out," Strauss said quietly "It's not important, and besides, I don't think Agent Hotchner wants to be reminded of that,"

Emily raised an eyebrow at her "Excuse me?"

Strauss smirked at her reaction "Oh come on Emily, it's been in front of you the whole time, ever since Hayley died, he's been falling in love with you,"

"You know this, how?" Emily asked her.

Strauss smiled at her "I have eyes, Agent Prentiss, but apparently you don't,"

"What? Like less physical than, say...you and Rossi?" Emily asked and Strauss looked shocked "I, too, have eyes, Section Chief Strauss," she smirked and stood up "I'll do the stupid lecture," she said walking out.

Strauss just chuckled to herself and put her glasses on, picking up a file she was reading before she called Emily into her office.

* * *

"They asked you to do what?" JJ asked as the whole team gathered in the conference room.

"Lecturing," Emily said as they sat down "On Doyle,"

Morgan was the next to speak "Who the hell thought that was a good idea?"

"Brass," Emily said "Look, Strauss wasn't happy about it either, but it was out of her hands,"

"It's just rude," Alex said in disgust "And they expect you to just run with it?"

Emily just nodded and looked over at Hotch who had stayed silent the entire time, noticed by everyone, including Emily.

"Anything?" Emily asked him, who just stayed quiet "Really?"

Hotch finally spoke up as he stood up "There's nothing we can do," and started to walk out.

"That's what I just said," Emily said, making him falter his step before continuing out the door.

The team looked at one another before Emily got up and stormed out after him. She caught him as he just walked into his office and hadn't had time to sit down. She turned and slammed the door shut "What's your problem?" she yelled at him.

"Agent Prentiss-" she cut him off.

"No! Don't give me that shit! You don't get to give me the silent treatment! There's no one else here! So, what is it Hotch? Because I know for a fact that it isn't about my freakin' nightmare!" she demanded taking him by surprise.

"Emily..." Hotch warned.

Emily just shrugged and shook her head "You are unbelievable," she said before walking out, slamming the door shut once again. He saw her grab her badge and gun out of her desk and walked out to the boardwalk.

"Where are you going?" Hotch asked. By now the whole team were scattered between the door of the conference room, the boardwalk and the bullpen.

Emily clipped the gun to her side, and put her badge in her back pocket, grabbing her keys as she shook her head, scoffing "So now you decide to talk to me?" then walked out of the building.

Everyone in the bullpen had stopped to watch the scene unfold "Everyone back to work," Hotch said before walking back into his office and closing the door behind him.

* * *

Emily needed a breather. She needed air. She needed to let off some steam, so she went downstairs and to the shooting range.

When her phone rang, she looked at the ID before answering "JJ," she greeted..

"Em, where are you?" JJ asked her.

Emily sighed inaudibly "Do we have a case?"

"No, but that's not the point," JJ replied.

"Then what does it matter?" Emily replied before hanging up.

As soon as the line went dead, she immediately regretted it. What just happened? She had never done that to JJ before. That wasn't like Emily Prentiss at all. She wasn't someone who hung up on her best friend.

"What the hell have you turned in to Emily?" she muttered to herself.

She put the clip in her gun and fired all 12 bullets into the guy's chest in the bulls eye.

"That's some aim you got," she looked over at the voice. He was Australian, with blonde hair, styled into a widows peak, his bright blue eyes and pearly white teeth shone under the light above them.

Emily nodded to him with a slight smile "Thanks,"

"Blake James," he stuck out his hand for her to shake.

She politely yet firmly shook his hand and introduced herself "Emily Prentiss,"

"_The_ Emily Prentiss, huh?" he asked with a smirk and reloaded his gun "I've heard a bit about you,"

Emily chuckled at the bad luck she's always had "Awesome," she said sarcastically and fired again at the paper mannequin, all shots landing in the head.

"Yeah, I heard you saved a kid then adopted him," Blake said "I heard that you've saved pretty much every one of your colleagues life at least once, and I heard that you're one of the best profilers in the world,"

Emily didn't look at him, just replaced the paper, reloaded her gun and fired again.

"So, dinner Friday night?" he asked, at which she could only laugh "I'm serious," he said and put the earmuffs down "Pick you up at seven," he smiled and walked off.

She looked up at him walking away and laughed at herself again "This is just too good," she said sarcastically.

* * *

She knocked on the door of JJ's office, hearing a 'come in', she walked in, closing the door behind her.

"Hey," JJ said with a slight smile.

Emily didn't sit down but looked directly at her "JJ..." Emily looked at her apologetically and JJ knew what she was going to say.

"Em, its okay," JJ slightly chuckled.

"No, it's not," she finally sat down in front of her "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, to anyone, but you're my best friend and-"

"Emily!" JJ stopped her "It's okay, it's been rough, I get it," she smiled reassuringly.

Emily still needed to say it "I'm sorry," and JJ gave her a look, to which Emily put her hand up in surrender "Have you ever heard of a Blake Lawson?"

JJ smiled "Yes, why?" she leaned forward on her elbows, clasping her hands.

"I met him in the shooting range," Emily said modestly "Seems like a nice guy,"

JJ looked at her and squinted sightly "Emily..." she warned "What happened at the shooting range?"

Emily just looked at her, smirked and shook her head "Profiling, it's in you,"

"Just answer the question," JJ prodded her.

"He said: So, pick you up at seven?" Emily replied with a confused look on her face.

JJ let out a little squeal "Really? What did you say?"

Emily chuckled again "I didn't, I'm pretty sure it was a rhetorical question, I think he was telling me more than anything,"

"So, are you gonna go?" asked JJ.

"I'm gonna have to now, won't I?" she asked rhetorically.

"Did he give you his number?" JJ asked which in return, Emily shook her head "Did you give him your number?" again, shaking her head in return "Okay then," she said slowly.

"Princess!" they heard Morgan yell, causing Emily and JJ to run into the bullpen "You have a visitor," he winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes at him.

"Hey Emily," there stood Blake, leaning against her desk with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Blake," Emily said slowly "What's up?"

Emily came closer, putting her phone on top of the desk, and her gun and credentials in the top drawer.

"This," he said and picked up her phone, dialing his own number and hanging up, putting her phone back on the desk "I forgot your number," he smiled.

"Okay," she chuckled to herself.

"So, I'll pick you up from here at seven Friday night," he smiled "And we're going to that new Italian place down the road," and with that he walked off, nodding to JJ and Derek on his way past, before Emily knew what was going on.

"Princess has a date," Morgan teased in a sing-song manner "Princess has a date,"

Emily rolled her eyes and sat at her desk.

"He is hot!" JJ said when he was out of earshot "You didn't think to mention his Australian accent?"

"Alright Jayj," said Emily "He's good looking with a cool accent,"

"Sexy accent more like it," they hadn't even noticed Alex standing there, watching what happened with a grin on her face.

"Mhm," JJ agreed with her.

Derek swung back and forth in his chair "And he's interested in our Princess," he smirked.

"Guys," Emily groaned "Can we please drop it?"

Hotch watched from his office and saw them teasing Emily with banter. He smiled when he saw the team was back to their old ways, but not necessarily what they were teasing her about. He realized he was staring so he got back to work on the file on his desk.

* * *

**So? What do you think of Blake? I know the name is kind of inconvenient with Alex and all but this guy reminds me of my friend (in Australia) named Blake :) **

**Please R&R**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the ninth chapter**

**I seriously hope you enjoy this :)**

* * *

Friday came around quickly, as it was only Tuesday, her second week back, when Blake and Emily first met. Emily was sitting at her desk when JJ and Penelope came up to her, a few seconds later, joined by Alex.

"Can I help you?" Emily asked them as they hadn't said anything yet.

PG was the first one to squeal "Okay, are you ready?"

"For what?" Emily asked, pretending not to know.

The three agents rolled their eyes "For your date tonight with Agent Hottie,"

"His name is Blake and, I guess so," she shrugged, looking back at the computer.

"Oh come on Em," JJ said "What're you wearing?"

Emily looked at her watch and saw it was 6:30, or in military time, 1830 hours.

She blew out a deep breath "I should probably get ready, hey?"

"Lets go then!" Alex said with a huge smile on her face at which, Emily couldn't help but chuckle to herself again.

"Fine," Emily groaned and got up "My shit's in my car,"

"Go get it," Penelope said making Emily pause in her tracks and look at her.

"Thanks for that advice Garcia," she said sarcastically "You really put things into perspective for me,"

Alex and JJ stifled a laugh as Penelope rolled her eyes and Emily grabbed her car keys and walked out of the bullpen.

When she came back, the three agents were waiting for her near the bathroom "I can get changed myself, ya know," Emily said.

"Just get in there," JJ said and gave her a light shove into the bathroom, the three following. Emily locked a stall and the girls waited in the main bathroom. JJ sat up on the vanity as Alex leaned back against it and PG was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Morgan's never gonna let go of this one, you know that right?" Emily said as they heard her changing clothes.

"It'll be worth it," said Alex.

Emily just grunted in reply as she came out a few minutes later in a black, one-shoulder dress that was tight across her chest and torso then flowed out to about four inches above the knee. The sleeve was three quarter and the material was cotton, with a lace layering over the top. She had sparkly, silver pump heels and she walked over to her bag on the vanity as the three women stared at her in awe.

"What?" Emily asked them "Is it really that bad?"

"Just the opposite," Alex said with raised eyebrows.

"You look stunning, Em," said JJ with a huge smile.

Garcia squealed again "Gumdrop!" and hugged her from the side.

She put on a simple silver necklace that said 'Emily' in cursive and a sparkly diamond bracelet, and a matching sparkly silver clutch. She felt the need to redo her make up and left her hair straight. Then turned to the girls and asked "What's the time?"

JJ looked at her phone "6:57," she smirked "Just in time," and with that, they walked out to find Morgan looking over from his desk with a huge smile on his face.

"Princess!" he exclaimed "You look great,"

Emily smiled at him "Thanks partner," she said as she walked back over to her desk. She put her phone, badge, keys and cash in her clutch, then strapped her gun to her thigh.

"Really, Em?" JJ asked "On a date?"

"I take it everywhere," said Emily "Always have, always will," she shrugged and pulled the skirt of her dress back down.

"Emily," she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned to see Blake standing there in a suit with silk lapels and a skinny black tie, and a huge smile on his face "You look beautiful," he said as he stepped closer and handed her a single rose "For you," he said.

"Thank you," she smiled and accepted the perfect red flower from him. The four agents that were there, had backed off and were now standing together, about five yards away from them.

"Ready?" Blake asked her.

"Yes," she replied with a single nod and a smile of her own then turned to her team "Night guys,"

"Night," they replied in unison and Blake nodded to them with a smile. Then he turned back to Emily so that he was standing next to her and opened his arm so that she could link her arm with his.

And with that, they walked out of the bullpen and toward the elevator.

Hotch, once again, watched form his window and couldn't help but feel something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Sure he'd get annoyed with unsubs and suspects flirting and playing with, but he always thought that that was the boss and friend coming out and that Derek, Reid and Rossi would have the same feeling. Though this feeling was different. he was confused at this point, but he shook it off when he realized Dave was at his door.

"You waited too long," said Dave as he walked in "You waited and now someone else has got her,"

Hotch looked at his friend "I have no idea what you're talking about,"

"You're just blind and stubborn," Dave said "What you feel right now, won't go away until you have her yourself,"

"I just don't want her to get hurt again," Hotch said "She's my friend and she's been hurt enough for one lifetime,"

"Mhm,"

* * *

They walked into the elevator after about three people got out and Blake pressed the ground floor button.

"So, how did you get a table, on short notice, at the hottest restaurant in town?" Emily asked him as the doors closed.

Blake just shrugged "A gift, I guess," and smiled at her.

She just smiled in return "Alright, we won't talk about it then,"

"You do realize that you're going out with a true Australian, not a half-assed one, right?" Blake asked her.

Emily thought for a second before saying "Like, you wear flip-flops everywhere and walk around in a tank top and shorts?"

"Lesson number one, 'flip-flops' are called thongs, what you call thongs we call 'g-strings'," he informed her as they stepped out of the elevator and towards a red Boss Mustang with two black racing stripes down the middle.

"What? No kangaroo?" she asked sarcastically.

"Lesson number two," he said as he opened the door for her and she got in then he quickly ran around and got in the drivers seat "Nobody owns a kangaroo in Australia, firstly, it's against the law, and secondly, how the hell are you supposed to get on it's back to ride it? That's like trying to ride a rabbit," he said and he started the car, speeding out of the parking lot and on the street.

Emily laughed at his analysis and they talked small talk until the restaurant. Emily didn't wait for him to open her door, she just got out and he linked her arm again as he came around.

They walked up a guy at the front of the restaurant "Jethro," he smiled at which Jethro smiled back.

"Blake," he returned "As per your request, the table next to the window,"

"Thanks mate," he hit him on the side of the arm and walked to the elevator.

"Where are we going?" asked Emily with a slight smile.

Blake just smiled at her and stayed silent and the elevator doors opened to a beautiful floor with fairy lights on the ceiling and candles surrounding the room.

Emily's eyes went wide and she smiled as she looked around her. There were a few more couples and groups there chatting amongst themselves as they walked to a table by the window, overlooking D.C. The lights lit the sky and Emily was mesmerized for a split second before Blake pulled her chair out for her.

After he sat down, he gave her a wine list for her to choose from.

"Seriously, how'd you get into this place?" Emily asked him as she looked up from the list.

He smiled again "My brother owns it," he said honestly.

"You have a brother?" asked Emily "Older or younger?"

"Younger," was all he said when a waiter came up to them.

"May I get you anything?" he asked.

Blake looked at Emily, wondering what she wanted, to which she answered "A glass of Jacob's Creek Sauvignon Blanc please," she told the waiter as she handed him the wine list.

"Nice choice," Blake said with a smirk then looked at the waiter "Fat Yak, thanks mate," he smiled.

"Of course, Mr James," said the waiter and he walked off.

Blake looked over at Emily to see her with a perfectly raised eyebrow "Fat Yak?"

He chuckled at her "It's an Australian beer," he explained "That wine you ordered, was made in Australia, Adelaide to be exact,"

"I'm guessing that's where you're from?" Emily asked.

Blake nodded once "Harold imports it, apparently it's a real hit so far,"

"Harold?" Emily asked "That's your brother?"

"His name is Jarred, but I call him Harold," said Blake. He saw she was about to ask when he said "It's a long story,"

Emily just nodded in response "So, any siblings of your own?" he asked her.

"Nope," Emily shook her head "Only child, my team are pretty much all I have,"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Blake said, taking her by surprise.

"For what?" she asked "You said that your team was your family, your parents passed?"

Emily chuckled "No," she smiled at him "They're still alive, I just don't talk to them,"

"Oh," Blake realized "Care to elaborate?"

"More of a 'never talk about' topic," Emily explained, making them both laugh "Nah, they're just painful,"

When the waiter came back, he was carrying a tray with a glass of the white wine and a bottle of Blake's Australian beer.

"Thank you," they said to him and he walked away.

"So," Emily said after taking a sip of her wine "Which department do you work in?"

"HRT commander," he explained "Not as elite as the BAU, of course, but we still make a difference," he shrugged.

"Hostage Rescue Team, nice," she said with a smile "You definitely make a difference, dangerous too,"

"So's your job," said Blake "I mean, you chase sociopaths for a living,"

"True," Emily said and took another sip of her wine "Holy crap, this is good," she said, looking down at it, then back at him.

"I know right?" Blake agreed and then held his beer out to her "Want some?"

Emily shook her head "No thanks,"

Blake shrugged then took a swig of it "So, how're you coping with the move back to Quantico?"

* * *

She had been laughing all night, they both had. It was strange how they'd just slipped into conversation like they'd known each other for years. They didn't talk much about their family, but they had plenty of stories about their teams. Emily learnt that there are six guys in Blake's direct unit, one being a woman, which she respected tremendously. She was only young, 26, but she was a damn fine agent, which made Emily respect her even more. Blake learnt more about the team and their antics. Garcia and Reid taking up most of the stories she told.

It hit 10 o'clock and they were still talking, laughing but they decided to call it a night.

He drove her back to the bureau for her car, and walked her to it.

"I had fun tonight," Blake said with smile and his hands in his pockets.

Emily nodded and returned his smile "Yeah, me too,"

"I'll call you," he said and lent forward and kissed her cheek "Goodnight Emily," he said and took a few steps backwards, making his way to his car.

"Night," she replied and they looked at each other for a while before Blake backed into his car, making him brace himself by taking a hand out of his pocket and causing Emily to laugh before getting into her own car and driving back to her apartment.

* * *

**Well? Let me know :)**

**I know some of you wanted me to write the case but I might do that in a sequel to this, so just be patient for those of you who are unhappy**

**xoxo. Love, me. oxox**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, here's chapter ten :) **

**Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, it means a lot**

**rmpcmfan, your reviews actually help :) you actual give the best reviews and feedback, i love you so much**

**anyway, enjoy :)**

* * *

The next morning was a Saturday, so she groaned when her phone rang at 6 AM, waking her from her sleep "This better be good," she said without looking at the I.D. That night was the first good night sleep she had gotten in a long time. A year and three months, to be exact. Ever since she went into hiding in Paris.

"Good morning to you too," she heard Declan say on the other end.

"Declan?" she asked the looked at the clock "Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes," he replied "Now open the door so I can move back in, I lost my key,"

"Wait, what?" Emily sat up slowly and leaned back against the bed head "You're moving back in?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, yeah," Declan chuckled at her "You okay with that?"

Emily quickly hung up the phone and ran to the front door, wearing only an old grey YALE t-shirt what went down to her mid-thigh and her underwear, swinging it open so fast that it blew her hair back out of her face.

"Hey Mom," he smiled as he had a backpack over one shoulder and carrying a box of his belongings.

She smiled brightly and took the box out of his hands, setting it down on the inside of the door and crushing him into a hug "It's about time you moved back in,"

"It's been like a week and a half since you got back," Declan said as he stepped inside and went straight to his previous room.

"So, why are you here at six in the morning, on a Saturday?" Emily asked as she followed him upstairs and down the hall with the box of his stuff "He didn't kick you out, did he?" Emily panicked for a split second.

"No," Declan chuckled as he threw his bag on the bed "Why would he kick me out?" he looked at her. She seemed to have a guilty, yet annoyed look on her face "Emily?" he took a step towards her "Why would he kick me out?"

"No reason," she said "We just had a disagreement about something,"

"Does this something have to do with that date you had last night with that Australian guy?" Declan asked with a raised eyebrow. He was taller than her, so he could look down slightly.

"What?" Now it was Emily's turn to raise an eyebrow "Who told you about that?"

"I have my sources," Declan shrugged.

Emily rolled her eyes "Of course you do," she put the box of stuff on his desk "And, no, it had nothing to do with that, in fact I'm pretty sure he doesn't know,"

"Why didn't you tell him?" Declan asked "You tell each other everything,"

Emily sighed "We're not exactly on speaking terms," she said "Look, it's complicated, and I'm going back to sleep," she stood on the tips of her toes, placing a hand on the back of his head, pulling it down slightly and kissing him on the forehead "I'm glad you're home,"

"You too," said Declan as she reached the door. She stopped with her hand on the door frame, looked back at him and smiled slightly before tapping the frame twice and walking back to her bedroom, going back to bed, closing her eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

When she finally awoke, it was three hours later, 9 AM. She got up and quickly jumped in the shower, taking her time as the water massaged her back and neck. She hopped out ten minutes later, got dressed in dark denim fitted jeans, tucked into black boots. She had a black three quarter sleeved v-neck top on and she blow-dried her hair straight. She was putting her watch on backwards as she walked downstairs and out to the kitchen.

"You're so weird, you know that?" Declan smirked as he handed over a mug of coffee.

She returned the smirked and took the coffee "I've always worn it like this,"

"I know," he said "So tell me about this Blake guy," Emily sat down on the kitchen stool and Declan stood in the kitchen, leaning against the bench top.

Emily chuckled at her son "He's Australian," was all she said.

"I know that, Mom, what else?" he asked then saw she wasn't going to answer "Em, I just lost you for three months because...I don't even know why, and I'm gonna make sure it doesn't happen again," he explained "So who is this guy?"

Emily smiled a small yet sad smile and then looked at him "Look, I know you must be confused, I know you probably don't trust anyone, mainly because you have no clue of what's going on," she explained "But I'm not going anywhere, ever,"

Declan swallowed a small lump in his throat then averted his gaze elsewhere momentarily before looking directly back into her eyes "I just...don't want to lose you again,"

"You won't," Emily said after grabbing a hold of his hand and squeezing it gently "I promise,"

Declan nodded and smiled slightly back "Okay," he replied "Do you wanna to something today?" he smirked at the idea in his head.

Emily looked at him skeptically "Like what?" she asked slowly.

"Something we used to do all the time, but haven't in three and a half months," he said.

"You mean..." she trailed off with a smirk, to which he nodded "You're on,"

Declan smiled and looked down at himself, he was in grey track pants and a black shirt on "I'm gonna go get changed,"

"Yeah, probably a good idea," she said and he ran upstairs to get changed. Emily smiled to herself and finished her coffee as quickly as she could without burning her mouth before Declan came down a few minutes later.

He was wearing burgundy fitted jeans and a white baseball tee with navy blue sleeves. His hair was in a perfect widow's peak and he had a white gold chain around his neck and matching bracelet. His shoes were navy blue Vans with white laces tucked under the tongue flap "Ready?" he asked her.

"Are we stopping for breakfast?" asked Emily, a little hopeful, as she grabbed her black and grey fleece hooded and sleeved, faux leather jacket and her purse.

"Of course," he smiled and grabbed his wallet and a set of car keys "I'm driving," Emily shrugged and they headed down to the underground parking lot of Emily's apartment building.

"Where's your car?" Emily asked as she saw a silver 2013 Camaro instead of Declan's black GTS Monaro.

Declan smiled and pressed the 'unlock' button on his car keys "This _is_ my car,"

"And how did you afford this?" she asked as they hopped inside, taking in the leather interior.

"My inheritance and I sold my stereo system, apparently my invention is worth quite a lot," Declan said as he started the engine.

Emily raised an eyebrow at him "We are so talking about this,"

* * *

They reached the diner and ordered breakfast, being it was 9:30, it wasn't too late.

"So, what about this new invention?" Emily asked after the waitress walked away.

"Oh," Declan smiled "I've basically started my own business, I get so called _'clients'_ and they come to me for entertainment systems, they make requests, I make it happen," he explained.

Emily raised her eyebrow at him again "Seriously? You couldn't have been a bus boy like a normal kid?"

"Since when was any part of my life been normal?" Declan asked her rhetorically "And besides, I'm making way more than what a bus boy would,"

"And where do you build these systems?" asked Emily.

"I bought a small warehouse with the money from my first job," Declan said "I was playing around with the one in my Monaro one day and a guy came up to me and asked me where to get one,"

"And that's how you got started," Emily said, catching on "How much did he buy it for?" she asked as the waitress came back over with their food "Thank you," she said.

Declan thanked her then turned back to Emily "Uh, I think it was about three,"

"Thousand?" she asked.

"Hundred-thousand," he said, making her choke on her piece of bacon "So, I've had four clients so far, all rich people, I guess the first guy told his friends to spread the word, it's only been two months and I've made three car stereo systems and a home entertainment unit, I had to install that one so the guy offered to pay extra,"

"I'm sorry, three hundred thousand?" she asked him "For a stereo?"

Declan just smirked at her and they finished their breakfast, before paying and leaving.

"So, are you gonna show me this warehouse?" Emily asked him as they drove along.

"I don't know," Declan shrugged and a few minutes later the pulled up in the parking lot of a large building "Ready to race?" he asked.

"That depends," she said as they got out of the car "Are you ready to get your ass kicked?"

"I'm pretty sure I beat you at kart racing the last time I checked," Declan said and they walked towards the building.

"Okay," Emily smirked and the automatic doors opened for them "Bring it on,"

* * *

**So, I know this one was a little short and I decided to make Declan a genius and a tech whiz who's good with his hands, and the technology I picture in my head is pretty high-tech and probably hasn't been invented yet, I'll go more into it later but I'm giving each character a chapter I think so just hold on for Alex and Hotch or whoever else you want to see :)**


	11. Chapter 11

hey guys, just wanted to let you know to let you know that this isn't a chapter but some of you may not like the ending to this story as I'll be doing a sequel. I need your input, I want to do a crossover with either **NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Rizzoli and Isles or Pretty Little Liars**, let me know okay?

tell me which one you would read,

yours truly,

SSA Calliope Prentiss


	12. Chapter 12

**So here's the next chapter, more one-on-ones**

**As I said in the alert before, some of you may not appreciate how the story will end, because there will be a sequel, vote for which crossover**

**anyway, enjoy**

* * *

An hour later and they agreed that it was best out of three to decide who won, Emily won the first race. Declan won the second race and the last race, ultimately beating his own mother.

"That was awesome," said Declan as they took off their helmets and gloves, turning them into the desk "I missed that,"

"Me too," Emily smiled "So, now that you can officially call yourself the winner,"

"Yes!" Declan fist pumped the air "Thou winneth thy tournament," he bowed to Emily who just chuckled at him.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too cocky," she said as they walked to the lockers to grab their stuff "I'm gonna beat you next time, you know that, right?"

Declan laughed at her "Yeah, good luck with that,"

Emily rolled her eyes at him "Have you heard from colleges yet?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Not yet, sometime next week," Declan explained.

"Where did you apply?" asked Emily.

Declan looked at her, then grabbed his stuff and shrugged a little "MIT, UCLA, Berkeley, NYU, Georgia Tech, Yale, UVa, Brown, Oxford,"

"Oxford's in London, you know that right?" Emily asked him.

Declan looked down and nodded "Yeah," he said quietly "I know,"

"Hey," she said, making him look up at her "Whatever happens, wherever you go, whether it's L.A, London, or here in Virginia, it doesn't matter, I'll visit and we'll call or Skype or whatever, okay?"

Declan smiled a little "Yeah,"

"The hard part is choosing where to go," said Emily "Seeing as you'll get into all of them, you have to choose,"

Declan groaned "Yay, can't wait," he said sarcastically, making her laugh.

"Come on, let's get out of here," she said, and with that, they walked out "You're coming shopping with me, by the way,"

"What?" he groaned again "I hate shopping,"

"Yeah, well, we have no food, and you're helping me," she said as they got into Declan's car.

"Great," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

"I don't get it," Alex said "You had dinner and he drove you back but you didn't sleep with him?"

"What are you saying? You would've?" Emily chuckled "It was the first date,"

She had invited her out for drinks that night, to properly thank her for bringing her home. They sat at the bar of the pub.

"Uh, yeah," Alex said like it was the most obvious thing in the world "Hot Australian dude with a sexy accent? Totally," she said and took a sip of her beer.

"He drinks this beer called 'Fat Yak', apparently they're a big deal over there," Emily said "I mean, who calls a beer 'Fat Yak'? Seriously,"

Alex laughed at that "I once dated this guy who didn't drink, which was fine at first and then he wanted me to quit altogether,"

"Let me guess, you broke up with him right then and there?" Emily asked, more of a statement than a question.

"Of course," Alex said "No drinking what-so-ever with this job?" Alex said rhetorically "That's like fighting fire with no water,"

Now it was Emily's turn to laugh "Cheers to that," she said and held up her glass bottle before taking a swig.

"So, you have a kid?" asked Alex, changing the subject.

Emily nodded "Yep, sixteen, he's in his senior year, skipped a few grades,"

"Is he going to college?" Alex asked and finished off her beer.

"Yeah, he's thinking Oxford," Emily said.

"You okay with that?" asked Alex and gestured the bartender for two more beers.

Emily shrugged "I mean, of course I am, I just..."

"Don't want him to be so far away again," Alex finished off.

"Exactly," Emily said "I was just over there and he was here, and now it could be vice versa,'

"I know what you mean," Alex said and Emily looked at her questioningly, she took a deep breath "A few years ago, I was engaged to this great guy, one day he was offered a job in Italy, but I didn't want to go with him, I couldn't," she elaborated "I knew long distance wasn't going to work, but he really wanted to try, so we did,"

"I'm guessing things didn't end well?" Emily asked.

Alex shook her head and turned the bottle in her hand "It did at first, we Skyped whenever we could, called, and visited each other when we had a break, but one day it stopped, the calls, video chats, visits, it just melted like lava, then he surprised me with a visit, just to break up, that's the kind of guy he was, he woud never do it over the phone, he was the most caring person you would ever meet, but it just didn't work,"

Emily stayed quiet as she listened, as Alex had been doing with her "Did you at least get break-up sex?"

Alex chuckled at her "Yes, yes I did,"

"There you go," Emily said, lightening the mood "So what is it that brought you to the trap of Erin Strauss?"

Alex groaned "I'm not even gonna go there with Strauss," she said "But I always wanted to be in the BAU, I always wanted to make a difference, see what other people don't, and with this job, I finally do, what about you?"

Emily nodded in understanding then answered "The same, but that wasn't my job when I was put on the team,"

"Care to elaborate?" Alex asked and took a sip of her beer as Emily explained.

"Strauss thought the BAU needed new leadership, I thought I was there to do my job, but apparently being a profiler wasn't it," she started "After about two months, she told me to gather all the information I had on the team,"

"What'd you do?" Alex asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Nothing, I avoided her calls, told her nothing, then I quit, after about two weeks," she said "If bringing down someone else's career was going to launch mine, I didn't want it,"

Alex nodded "That's Strauss for you, throws people under the bus to save her own ass,"

Emily raised an eyebrow at her "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"A lot actually," Alex said "I'll tell you, just not tonight,"

"Okay, change of subject," said Emily "Anyone on your bi-dar?"

"My what?" Alex chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"Your bisexual radar," she smirked "Oh, come on," Emily said "You can't hide from me, I saw you checkin' out that girl over there,"

Alex laughed "What happened to not profiling the team? Isn't that 'BAU 101'?"

"Once you see something, you can't un-see it," Emily said.

"Okay, okay," Alex threw her hands up in defeat "You know that girl in counter-terrorism, that one with the dark brown eyes and the dark brown hair?" Emily thought for a moment "I think her name is Todd,"

Emily gasped uncontrollably "Jordan?"

"That's it," Alex clicked "Jordan Todd, you know her?"

Emily chuckled "She liased for us when JJ was on maternity leave,"

"Liased? Is that even a word?" Alex asked her "Anyway, yeah I don't know if she's gay, but she's cute,"

"Aren't you supposed to have some sort of gaydar?" Emily asked, making her laugh.

"No, why do people always think that?" Alex asked.

Emily laughed with her for a second before answering "Because it's a cliche,"

"Right, well no, I do not have a gaydar," said Alex "But according to Morgan, she was kind of into you at one point, apparently you did some club thing together,"

Emily laughed "Oh yeah, some guy was teaching a class on how to pick up chicks, Jordan and I had to talk to him at the club, find out what he might know about our unsub," Emily explained "She's a good operator,"

"Well the good operator had a crush on you," said Alex and took another swig of her beer with a wink, making Emily chuckle again.

"Alrighty then," Emily said "So, are you gonna ask her out?"

Alex laughed "Nope,"

"Why not?" Emily whined like a six year old.

"Because," Alex said "I don't do that, I don't ask unless I'm sure, which I'm not so forget it,"

"Oh no," Emily shook her head "I am so not forgetting this,"

Alex groaned and bowed her head making Emily laugh.

"Thank you," Emily said suddenly making Alex look at her questioningly "For bringing me back, thank you,"

Alex looked at her "You would've come back eventually,"

"No, I wouldn't have," she shook her head "I didn't think it mattered as much this time, me being away, last time hit them hard because they thought I was dead, they knew where I was so I didn't think they cared, but you showed me that it did matter," Emily said quietly "So thank you,"

Alex smiled at her softly "No problem,"

* * *

"Shit," Emily groaned the next morning. She wasn't drunk, but the gunshot wound in her shoulder had full effect on her now. She hadn't really felt it before, she could run away the pain, but now she felt it full force.

"You okay?" she heard the soft voice of Alex from somewhere around her. Emily looked up to realize that they both crashed at her own apartment last night, seeing as they both had too much to drive but weren't smashed. They decided that it was easier if they just stayed at Emily's.

"Yeah," she sat up, she slept on one of the couches, with Alex on the other one "Shoulder's just a little sore,"

"From that gunshot?" asked Alex making Emily furrow her eyebrows at her "I saw it when I came into your office, the bandaging, I'm surprised you didn't have a sling on it,"

Emily shurgged then winced from the movement "You get used to the initial pain after a while and it doesn't bother you as much,"

"Yay," Alex said sarcastically "Can't wait for that day, where I've been shot so many times that I'm used to it,"

Emily chuckled quietly at her "Oh, it's just getting started," and stood up to get some Nurofen out of the cupboard.

"What's that?" Alex asked as she leant on the counter across from her.

"Nurofen, I got it in London, works a charm," Emily said and swallowed two of them "They don't sell it here in the States, I don't know why,"

Alex smirked at her then brusheda hand through her hair and looked at the clock "Ten o'clock,"

Then they heard the front door open "Dec?" Emily asked but didn't look.

"Nope, serial killer," he replied and Emily rolled her eyes whilst Alex smirked.

"Not funny," said Emily as Declan walked into the kitchen.

Declan contemplaited this "Kind of was," he smirked then turned to Alex "You must be SSA Blake, I'm Declan Jones,"

"Alex," she shook his hand "Nice to meet you,"

"Where have you been?" Emily asked as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Jess', with Jack and Henry," Declan said "Late night?"

Emily nodded with her eyes closed "How's Henry? I haven't seen him yet,"

"He's good," Declan said and then said suddenly "Oh, look what I found this morning," he smiled and took out an envelope from his back pocket and put it on the counter.

Emily let her eyes adjust to the lettering on the envelope with the UVa logo on it "I thought they weren't coming until next week?"

"Well, seeing as it's in Virginia, it came early, I haven't opened it yet," Declan said.

"Do you want me to leave so you can?" asked Alex.

Declan shook his head "Nope," he said with a smile and took a deep breath and looked at the letter for a moment. His heart was pounding in his chest. He lifted the longue a little so he could sneak his finger under and pull it up in one motion, tearing the envelope fold.

He took the letter out of it and opened it slowly and he let out a huge breath that he didn't know he was holding and smiled.

"Is that an acceptance smile?" Emily asked hopefully.

"I'm in," he said and Emily hugged him from the side.

"Nice job," Alex said with a smile "I bet you'll have no problem getting into Oxford,"

"You said that I applied?" Declan asked Emily.

Emily shrugged then winced again "Was that supposed to be a secret?"

"No," Declan said "I just wanted to be sure before I told anyone,"

"Relax," Emily said "You'll get in," she assured him as she rubbed his back.

Alex smiled at them then realised something and pulled out her phone earning a queried eye from Declan and Emily.

"Hi, Andrew, it's Alex," she said "I'm great, how are you?" there was a pause "Always," she had replied "I have a favor to ask, there's an applicant from Virginia, his name is Declan Jones, I was just wondering if you could give me an update, he's family," she winked at them waiting for him to reply "Great, thanks so much, yeah you too, bye," and hung up with a smile.

"Who was that?" Declan asked.

"The Vice-Chancellor at Oxford University," Alex said.

"Well?" Emily asked "What did he say?"

"I can't tell you," said Alex.

"Oh come on," Emily said.

Alex chuckled at her "He said that he couldn't give me anything solid but your chances are 'unbelievably high', that combined with your age, IQ and dedication, you're pretty much a sure thing," she explained.

"But they still don't know," Declan said more of a statement than a question.

Alex nodded then cocked her head to the side "How many grades did you skip?"

"Three," said Declan "I turned sixteen like a month ago,"

"Anyway, they're puting a rush on your letter and it should be here tomorrow," Alex informed them "And I should probably go," and then grabbed her things "Thanks for letting me stay over," she said to Emily.

"Anytime," Emily said.

"Good luck with your letter," Alex said to Declan then walked to the front door, followed by Emily.

"Hey, thank you," Emily said, stopping her "For everything,"

"As I said, no problem," she smiled and Emily pulled her into a hug "I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Yeah, see you," Emily said and Alex left.

* * *

**There you go, the part you've all been waiting for, I'm sorry if it's not enough, let me know what you thought**

**Thank you so much for the suggestions of my next story.**

**And whoever else wants to pitch in, the choice of crossover is NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Rizzoli and Isles or Pretty Little Liars**

**Let me know guys**

**Love you all xoxoxo**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next chapter :D I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think :)**

* * *

The sound of cadets applauding as she walked onto the stage rang in her ears and they quietened down as she reached the lecture stand.

"For those of who don't know me," Emily started "My name is Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss, I work for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, most of you know what that is, but basically we study human behavior, get into the head of someone and figure out their move before they've made it,"

She looked around the lecture theater and continued "I don't normally do this, if fact, it goes against everything I stand for, putting everything out there for everyone to see, but if it helps you stay out of the position I was in, then...what the hell?" she said rhetorically then started on the case "Ian Doyle," she clicked the mouse pad on the laptop in front of her and brought up a mugshot of Doyle on the projector "International arms dealer and terrorist, unfortunately I had the job of going undercover to get enough evidence to lock him away,"

For the next hour, she talked about the details of the case whilst the cadets asked questions. Then a question caught her by surprise "Did you love him?"

She took a moment before answering "Unfortunately," she said slowly "Yes, and I hated myself because of it, and the day I got out of there, the day he was arrested, I actually felt sorry for him, and I have no idea why,"

Her team looked at her from the front row, their emotions mixed with guilt, pity and sadness.

"You're young, so I don't expect you to understand, but one day you will, you'll know that you can't choose who you fall in love with," Emily said and JJ furrowed her eyebrows. She had heard that somewhere before "But I got over him, and I ended up hating him, whenever I thought about him I felt rage, then I think of his son and wonder how a talented, sweet kid, could come from such a sociopath,"

The next question was something she expected "Did the kid go into foster care? After the nanny died?"

Emily smiled a little bit "No, he lives with me,"

"Why didn't you tell your team?" another cadet asked.

She glanced down at her family in the front row then said "This was my fight, not theirs, and I would've put them in more danger than I already had," she explained "Doyle was taking out families, I didn't have one, I wasn't close to my relatives, they were it, I ran to take him out on my own, they may not understand it, in fact, I caused a lot of friction when I got back, because they trusted me, and each other, something that has to be earned, that day, I lost that trust, trust I may never get back,"

"Do you have a photo of Declan?" someone asked.

"Uh, yeah," she said and scrolled through the pictures on her laptop. Finding the right picture, she put it on the screen. He was on a park bench leaning forward on his elbows which rested on his knees. He had looked up from his phone and smiled as Emily took the photo. Declan was wearing pale blue Billabong walkshorts with white pinstripes. He had on a thin, white cotton v-neck shirt and his hair was in his usual blonde widows peak. He had black aviators on the top of his head and a black and silver Rolex on his left hand "That's Declan,"

* * *

She finished and everyone had left the hall and were out in the foyer. People came up to her and asked questions, congratulated her and made comments here and there until she heard someone come up behind her "Riveting lecture, Agent Prentiss,"

She turned and smiled when she saw a familiar Australian blonde standing with his hands behind his back. He was wearing a grey dress shirt tucked into his dark navy jeans and a skinny, black tie, loosely tied around his neck and his top button undone "Blake, hey," she greeted "What're you doing here?"

"Well, you know, I was driving through the neighborhood," he shrugged and smiled as he stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek and gave her a hug.

"Of course you were," she chuckled and looked at his outfit "So you get dressed up for driving through the neighborhood?" she quirked an eyebrow at him, noticing he was wearing the same black tie he wore on their date.

He looked down at himself and then rubbed the back of his neck "Yeah..." he laughed nervously.

Emily smiled at him "That's sweet," she said and they started to walk out.

"So," he said "You busy tonight?"

Emily shook her head once "No,"

"Good," he replied "I'm coming over to your place tonight, I'm cooking for you,"

"Is that right?" she chuckled at him.

He smiled as he looked over at her "Yes,"

"What? No nighttime raids?" she asked.

"Actually I think the bastards are holding off on getting caught for a day," he said making her laugh.

"If only," she replied when he cut in front of her and crashed his lips against hers, surprising her for a second, until she responded and fell into it, deepening the kiss. He threaded his fingers through the back of her hair and she grabbed onto his tie until they broke apart for air "What was that for?" she asked.

"Something I should have done the moment I met you," he said looking into her eyes "And I'm glad I did,"

* * *

The team watched as Emily and Blake walked out of the foyer together.

"They seem to be hitting it off," JJ said.

"Mhm," Alex said "I bet they are," she winked at her making JJ stifle a laugh.

Morgan nodded in agreement when Hotch spoke up "What does she see in that guy?" he obviously didn't meant to say it because everyone saw the wince on his face afterwards. JJ's phone broke the silence when it rang.

"Excuse me," she said slowly, still in a little shock of what Hotch just said, with the exception of Dave who just smirked. JJ backed away to take the call "Jareau,"

* * *

The rest of the day was slow, they still had no cases so their paperwork was pretty light and they had nothing to do. Emily was called into Strauss' office to talk about the lecture.

"How do you feel?" Strauss asked her as she sat down.

Emily shrugged "Like crap, what about you?"

Strauss smirked a little before she took her glasses off and put them on the file in front of her "Emily, I know you're not happy about what you had to do,"

"Yeah, well, I've had to do a lot of things I'm not happy about," Emily said.

"You know, when you resigned from the BAU the first time, I admired you, your loyalty," Strauss said "I never should've tried to bring down his career, and what you did opened my eyes a little, but it still didn't stop me," she said "What stopped me, was the fact that you made me realize what I was doing, you made me realize that Aaron didn't want to move higher than the BAU, that was his wife, and when she died, I had a whole new perspective of him, and I respected him, I have always respected him, but from then on I saw him as something more than someone to respect, I saw him as someone to honor, to back," Emily was wondering where this was headed "Emily, you helped him through the toughest time of his life, you helped him get up and hold on for his son, if it wasn't for you he wouldn't be here, I know you've had to do some bad things in your lifetime, but there are many more that you should be proud of, so many more that they outweigh the bad, don't ever forget that," Strauss could see the wheels turning in Emily's head "Emily?"

"I'm trying to think of something sarcastic to say...give me a minute," Emily replied and Strauss chuckled.

"I'll be here waiting," she said and put her glasses back on and picked up the file that was in front of her.

* * *

"Will," JJ said as he returned home from work at a his normal knock-off time.

"Hey JJ," he said slowly, he hadn't seen her in a few days so he was surprised to see her home.

"Can I talk to you?" JJ asked and gestured for him to sit on the couch across from her.

He nodded and sat down "What's up?"

"I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me," she said and he nodded once again "Are you having an affair?"

He looked shocked "God, no! JJ, I would never," JJ could see the genuine shock and surprise in his face and she knew he wasn't lying "How could you think that?"

JJ let out a sigh of relief "I'm sorry," she said "I just...I don't know what's gotten into me lately,"

Will stayed quiet for a moment before saying "Do you trust me JJ?"

She took a moment to think about this and hung her head "I don't know,"

"To be honest," Will said "You've been pulling away and I've been wondering the same thing,"

JJ understood fully, she knew that for the past few months, she had "What do we do?"

Will just sighed and came across to her on the couch and hugged her tightly "I can't force you to trust me, and I can't force you to love me,"

"I do love you," she said and she was being honest.

"I know," he replied "But you're in love with someone else,"

JJ started to cry "I'm so sorry," she sobbed "I never wanted to hurt you,"

Will just nodded and soothed her "Shh," he whispered as he rubbed circles in her back, and a tear escaped his eye "We'll be okay,"

* * *

"Can I stay over tonight?" JJ cried into the phone.

"Of course, Kitten," Garcia replied as she sat up in her bed "Is everything okay?"

She heard JJ sobbing on the other end "No, everything's not okay,"

"You can stay here as long as you like," said Penelope.

Ten minutes later, JJ was at the front door. Garcia opened it and enveloped her in a gentle, yet tight hug "It's alright," she whispered.

After JJ had stopped crying and she had put her stuff in Garcia's spare room, they settled on the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Garcia asked her.

JJ shook her head then sighed "Everything's just so messed up," she said "I didn't think it could ever get like this,"

"No one ever does," said Garcia "Look at me and Kevin, we were perfect and then I ruined it,"

"You didn't ruin it PG," JJ said to her "You just wanted different things,"

"Still," Garcia said, letting the statement hang there "What's going to happen to Henry?"

JJ shrugged "I don't know, we haven't really talked about it, it'll be hard but it'll be better than teaching him that staying in an unhappy marriage is the answer,"

"You okay Puddin'?" Garcia asked her quietly.

JJ thought for a moment then nodded "Yeah," she said "I think we're gonna be okay,"

* * *

"What are you doing?" Emily asked Blake as she walked back into the kitchen from changing out of her work clothes and found him with his shirt off. They had eaten dinner and Emily wanted to change out of her clothes before she cleaned up, except she found it already done.

"Oh, I couldn't find a tea towel to dry the dishes," he responded like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Emily smirked a little and came up next to him "So you decided to use your shirt instead?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I figured that a wet shirt was better than a dirty kitchen, so..." he let the sentence hang there as he threw his cotton tea shirt onto the bench.

"Do you want something else to wear?" Emily looked up at him slightly and lent back against the bench.

"Oh yeah," he said "I'm sure that dress you wore the other night would fit me perfectly," he said with a straight face, until she laughed, making him smile.

"Why, Agent James," Emily said "Would you like to try it on?" she said sarcastically.

Blake just laughed then stood in front of her with his legs either side of hers as he lent down to kiss her softly, which heated pretty quickly until he had grabbed her legs and lifted her up so she was sitting on the bench and straddling his waist. They let their tongues roam each others mouths before Emily was running her hands over Blake's abs. His fingers made their way under her shirt, up her chest and over her bra before they made their way back down around her waist to pick her up and taking her upstairs into her bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, Emily woke to a crack of sunlight that managed to shine right in her eyes. When she recalled the events last night, she smiled to herself but realized she was in an empty bed with a sheet covering her body, as she heard a noise from the kitchen. Realizing that it was just Declan, she fell back onto her pillow and shook her head slightly before getting up and putting an old YALE t-shirt and some underwear on before heading downstairs.

"Declan, what time will you be-" she started to say when she looked up to find Blake standing over the stove in just his black Adidas track pants with the classic three white stripes down the side and a white cotton v-neck shirt over the top "Oh, hey," she said, a little surprised.

"Morning," he smiled at her as he just finished cooking what looked like bacon and eggs from her point of view "Your son came early this morning, said he forgot an essay that was due today,"

"Oh God," she muttered making him chuckle.

"Relax," he said, placing a plate in front of her "He was actually pretty cool," he explained "We had a good chat, to be honest,"

"He didn't interrogate you did he?" she asked as she picked up the fork.

He smiled at her "No, I told you, he was fine," he said and lent on his elbow and started to eat "But he did ask me to do something,"

Emily groaned "What?"

"He asked me to take it slow," that made her look at him questionably "He said that he didn't want you to get hurt," she sighed at that "Em, you have a great kid,"

"I know that," she said "But it's my life, and I don't want him to get mixed up in it,"

"Mixed up in what?" Blake asked her rhetorically "It's up to you, but I understand where he's coming from and he cares about you,"

Emily looked at him then nodded and finished eating "Thank you," she said "For...everything,"

"Anytime," he smiled slightly at her.

* * *

**Okay, for those of you who wanted action; I have no idea what I'm talking about because I haven't done it myself, so I apologize for that but you can always fantasize if you like ;) **

**anyway, I hope you enjoyed it**

**I think there might be one more chapter until I move onto the next one, and sorry it took so long**

**love, me xoxo**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's the final chapter.**

**It's really short but it transitions into the next story, the one you all voted on and the one which I'll get started on right away :)**

**I wanted to wrap it up quick and get started on as soon as possible so sorry if you were expecting more**

* * *

"Looks like you didn't get any sleep last night," Alex smirked at Emily as she came up and lent against Emily's desk, her back to Morgan. This topic sparked an interest in Derek as he dropped the file back onto his desk and lent forwards.

"I'm listening," he said.

"Did you two...?" Alex trailed off, still smirking.

Emily shrugged "I don't know," then looked up at her "Did you?"

Alex chuckled and walked to her own desk, sitting down.

Emily gasped "You did!" and she wheeled herself over "Oh my god! With who?"

"Oh my god! No one!" Alex mimiked her.

Emily smirked at her "Was it a certain Counter Terrorism Agent?" earning no response, only a shift in her seat "Was she good?"

"All I will say," Alex said quietly "Is that she has skills I've never even heard of,"

"Really?" Emily raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout over there?" asked Derek, popping his head up like a meerkat.

Emily and Alex looked at him with alarm "Why are you talking like a gangster, Ice Cube?" Alex asked him, to which Emily tried to stifle a laugh.

"What do you mean? I always talk like this," he defended.

"Right," Emily nodded slowly "And I'm T-Pain," she said sarcastically "Derek, you're an agent, not a rapper,"

"I wouldn't be too sure," JJ smirked as she came up to them.

"Hey!" Derek retorted.

"Anyway," JJ said "Have you guys seen Hotch? He's not in his office,"

The three other agents shook their heads "Try Rossi's office,"

JJ nodded and walked up the stairs and along the boardwalk to Rossi's office before knocking twice and hearing the usual 'Come in'. She opened the door to find Rossi and Hotch sitting across from each other.

"Hotch, Strauss wants you in her office, apparently, you're not answering your phone," JJ informed him. Hotch nodded his thanks as he stood and made his way out of Dave's office. After he had left, JJ didn't move.

"Are you okay?" Dave asked her softly.

She sighed then nodded "Yeah, I guess,"

"Garcia told me what happened," he replied "You wanna talk about it?"

JJ walked over and sat where Hotch had just vacated "No," she shook her head "But feel free to talk about something else," she replied.

* * *

"Agent Hotchner," Erin greeted him as he walked into her office and took a seat across from her "Is there something wrong with you and Agent Prentiss?"

He looked at her confused "No, why would there be?"

"Well," she replied "Since she has returned, I've noticed a lot of tension between you two," she explained "Is there something I should know?"

"If you're implying that there's something going on with us, you're wrong," said Hotch "In fact, she has a boyfriend,"

Erin bit back a smirk and a smart retort "Is that what it's about? That Emily is seeing someone?"

"No, Ma'm," Hotch said "There's nothing wrong with me and Agent Prentiss,"

"You may be the profiler, but I can tell when you're lying," Erin smirked at him.

"Oh really?" Hotch asked her.

She lent forward on her elbows "Aaron, you called her Agent Prentiss, you haven't done that in four years, you only call her by her professional name when you've had a disagreement or she's in trouble,"

Hotch thought about this for a second before saying "Okay, hypothetically, we've had a slight disagreement-"

"She screamed at you, slammed your office door _twice_ and stormed out of the bullpen," Erin put it out there "That's not a slight disagreement, or hypothetical, that's what happens when you piss her off, it's happened before, with the exorcism case and her friend Matthew,"

"Okay, yes," Hotch said "We had an argument, but we're fine now,"

"Really?" she asked with raised eyebrows "Have you actually spoken to her?"

"Erin, Emily and I are fine," Hotch reasoned with her.

"Mhm," she replied and put her glasses back on as he stood up to leave "Oh, and you have a case,"

"Shouldn't it have come through JJ?" he asked her as he stood behind the chair he had previously sat.

Erin gave him a piece of paper "This one's from an old friend,"

Hotch looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and read the cursive print then looked back up at her "You've gotta be kidding me,"

"Aaron," she warned him.

"We _cannot_ work with these people," he said "They're cowboys,"

"They're fine agents," said Erin as she looked down at her file.

Hotch looked back down at the piece of paper then walked out of her office and out to the bullpen.

"Everybody to the SUVs with your tablets," he said as he walked along the boardwalk.

"Where are we going?" Reid has joined them.

"NCIS,"

* * *

**Alright, how was that?**

**I know it was horribly short, but I'll make it up to you in the next story**

**xoxo, love, me**


	15. Victoria Cross Preview

Okay, so the next story is called 'Victoria Cross'. It's in the crossover section under Gibbs and Emily (the character selection thing'.

It takes off from where we left off.

Enjoy :)


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